Natural Features

Yellowstone

The buildings and bridges of Yellowstone are beautiful and historic. But you come to Yellowstone for its natural features. There are sights here you simply cannot see any where else in the world.

It's a huge park and the features are far apart, so you'll need to drive some distance to each. That's why you need a week. Coming here for a day or two does not do the park justice.

First, of course, you'll want to watch Old Faithful erupt several times, as seen in the photos above and right. You can relax on outdoor benches or the viewing areas in Old Faithful Inn or the Visitor Center. Old Faithful is called that because it used to erupt precisely every 90 minutes. Now it's a little less faithful, but it still erupts within 10 minutes of the 90 minute schedule.

But Old Faithful isn't the only attraction there. The Upper Geyser Basin Trail is on boardwalks and pavement, since the crust is unsafe to walk on. It leads past a dozen other geysers, many of which will erupt while you're there. The five mile walk will take 2-3 hours, since you'll want to stop for photos along the way. You may also be forced to stop by Bison, Bear or Elk blocking your way. You just pause and wait for them to move along. You'll probably also be snapping photos of them. Be sure to wear a broad brimmed hat and apply plenty of sunblock, because you'll be out in the open (no trees grow here) at 8000 feet and in the high thin air the sun can burn quickly.

Many visitors consider Prismatic Spring the most beautiful feature in the park. From Old Faithful it's a 15 minute drive north on the Grant Loop Road toward Madison Junction. Brace yourself for huge crowds. There's a boardwalk, seen at right, leading up from the parking lot. But this photo is taken from an overlook, reached one mile up the Ferry Falls Trail, which leaves the road at a different parking lot a mile south of the Prismatic Spring Parking Lot entrance. We suggest you hike both the boardwalk and the trail. You'll find cars parked a mile up and down the road, but we recommend just waiting in line for a spot in the main parking lot. Spots are continually opening up. The time you spend waiting in line is the same time you'd spend walking the mile from parking along the road.

15 miles further north on the Grand Loop Road toward Madison Jumction you'll come to the weird Fountain Paint Pots. Some of them are colorful but many of them are bubbling mud pots as seen here. It's a surreal landscape with a mile long boardwalk. A strong hydrogen sulfide ('rotten egg") odor permeates the area. Color comes from Thermophiles (heat and acid loving bacteria) and concentrations of iron in the pools. Fountain Geyser erupts several times a day.

Norris Basin is the largest, hottest, most active thermal area in the park and the world. It sits in the very center of the volcanic caldera that underlies all of Yellowstone. Two major fault lines intersect at Norris. Steamboat Geyser with a 400 foot plume is the largest geyser in the world. Two hiking trails meander through the basin, totaling 2.5 miles. Norris is constantly changing as new vents suddenly open and old ones close. The boardwalks are constantly being relocated and parts have to be closed. There's also a Visitor Center with informative exhibits. You should allocate half a day here. From Old Faithful Inn, follow the Grand Loop Road past Madison Junction to Norris Village. It will take about an hour with traffic backups.

Mammoth Hot Springs is a massive mountainside of travertine terraces, caused by hot water bubbling up from underground depositing calcium carbonate as it flows down the hillside. This photo does not adequately capture the scope of this formation. Several board walks wind around and through it, the shortest two miles, the longest five miles. If you have several people in your group, we suggest dropping a few off at the drive at the top, then driving down to the bottom and parking. You can hike the main boardwalk in opposite directions, with the weaker hikers beginning at the top and hiking downhill. You can exchange keys halfway up. Allow at least a couple of hours here. You're going to want to stop for photos numerous times, and your way may be blocked by Elk once or twice.

A mile down the road is the town of Mammoth. It includes a wonderful hotel, cabins, very good restaurant, gift shop, gas station, Visitor Center, ranger office and park headquarters. A large herd of Elk lives in and around the town, blocking traffic and providing endless photo opportunities. During Summers parking can be a problem.

We suggesting scheduling a whole day in and around Mammoth. Drive up in the morning, spend the last half of the morning at the Hot Springs, then spend the afternoon driving the Beartooth Highway and over to Roosevelt Arch. On the way back to Old Faithful, drive down the east side of the Grand Loop Road through Hayden Valley.

While in Mammoth, you should drive the few miles over to the official North Entrance and see the Roosevelt Arch. In 1872 when the park opened, the government anticipated only one entrance. Guests would take the train to Gardiner, stay the night, then take a stagecoach or sleigh over to Old Faithful. The Roosevelt Arch was the official entrance to Yellowstone. President Theodore Roosevelt laid the corner stone for the arch in 1903. The stones used to build the arch were all quarried nearby.

On your way back to Old Faithful, follow the east side of the Grand Loop Road. This will take you past Roosevelt Lodge, Mt. Washburn and Dunraven Pass. At 10,243 feet, Mt. Washburn is one of the park's favorite dayhikes. The easiest trail leaves from Dunraven Pass.

But the big attraction here is Yellowstone Falls. Twice as high as Niagara Falls and in a beautiful canyon, Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls are the second and third most photographed attractions in the park, behind only Old Faithful. A driving trail turns off to your left which features several lookout points. Hiking trails, 4-6 miles each, take you along the rim or descend down into the canyon. Just remember when you descend all those stairs you're going to have to come back up.

South of the Falls is the village of Canyon, offering a Visitor Center, gas station, lodge, cabins, campground, gift shop, snack bar and restaurant. It's also one of the few places in the park where you can get a cell phone signal.

When leaving Canyon, stay on the eastern side of the Grand Loop Road (follow the signs to Lake Village, Yellowstone Lake and Grant Village).

From Lake Village to Grant Village you'll be driving along the shore of Yellowstone Lake. This is a very special lake. It sits at 7732 feet, making it the highest lake in America and the second largest high altitude lake in the world (after Lake Baikal in Russia). It offers 136 square miles of area and 109 miles of shoreline. The Lake is 20 miles long and 14 miles wide. It is filled mostly by snowmelt and icemelt so is very cold and not suitable for swimming. But it's great for fishing. You can take a guided all day fishing trip aboard a well equipped boat. Or if you're not into fishing, you can pay $25 and take a one hour cruise on the Lake Queen II. You'll learn lots of interesting facts and get great photo ops. Both fishing and sightseeing cruises depart from Bridge Bay Marina a mile south of Lake Village.